2/24/2008

Beer Blogging - Bear Republic Racer 5 IPA

This beer is a regular on tap at the UCI campus pub, and I'm a big fan. I decided to pick up a 22-oz. bottle from my liquor store to see if it tastes as good when it's not coming from a keg. Let's see.

The pour looks the same as the stuff on tap: a slightly cloudy golden color with a fluffy white head. The head disappears within about 30 seconds, leaving a thick layer of lace on top of the beer. The aroma smells like a pretty standard IPA, with citrusy hops floating on top of just a hint of malt. Overall the aroma isn't as strong as I expected.

The taste is, frankly, really good. Even though this is an IPA with 7% ABV, it's not hard to drink at all. There's not nearly as much bitterness as you'd expect, for example. What bitterness there is presents itself right out front, in the form of a grapefruit flavor. The malts come next, with some bready taste and maybe a little sweetness. Caramel, maybe? I guess somebody with more of a sweet tooth would appreciate that part a little more. There's really not much alcohol taste to speak of. The mouthfeel is pretty good; it might benefit from a little more carbonation, but that's just a personal preference. The grapefruit comes back for the aftertaste, and sticks around for a good long while.

Overall, this is a very well-balanced beer. The hops aren't so strong that they totally drown out the hops malt [that didn't exactly make sense, did it?], which can be a problem with some IPAs (especially some of the ones from Northern California). I would rate this beer a 9/10, adding that if you like IPAs and you see a bottle of this beer you must buy one. It's just as good from the bottle as it is on tap, too, which cannot be said about all beers.